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BOOK XII. at three o'clock in the morning of the 13th of April. The piquets were driven in; and Sir CHAP. II. John Hope, in endeavouring to support them, came unexpectedly, in the dark, on part of the enemy: his horse was shot dead, and fell upon him; and not being able to disengage himself from it, he was unfortunately made prisoner. In this sortie Major-general Hay was killed, and several officers wounded; but the enemy were at length driven back into their entrenched camp. The military transactions in Spain, subsequent to those of Sir John Murray, possessed no interest whatever. The greatest part of their country being freed from their invaders by foreign aid, the Spaniards appear to have been content to wait for the course of decisive events to effect their total liberation, whilst the French were re- duced to a merely defensive part, with forces continually diminishing by drains for service at home. The civil affairs of Spain will make a very interesting chapter: but, at present, we shall confine ourselves to those which were previous to the resumption of monarchical government.

3

The regency and cortes removed, on the 5th of January, from Cadiz to Madrid, where they were received with all the solemnity due to the national representation and government. On the 15th, the Cortes commenced its session, and on the 17th were waited upon by General Villacampa, governor of Madrid, accompanied by his staff. In a subsequent sitting, they were informed by the regency, that the Emperor of Austria had sent an envoy with a note, in which he expressed a desire for the re-establishment of the ancient relations between the two countries. We have already mentioned, in our tenth Book, Chap. XI. that Napoleon, about the beginning of the year, had liberated Ferdinand VII. after exacting a treaty from him highly favorable to France. Accordingly, this treaty, after it was signed, was sent to Spain by the hands of the Duke of San Carlos, the Spanish plenipotentiary, who brought two letters to the regency, one from Ferdinand the other from Napoleon. The former they read; the latter was returned unopened. The regency communicated the business to the Cortes at a secret sitting, which body expressed its entire satisfaction with what the other had done, and framed a decree which was publicly read at a sitting on the 30th. After a preamble expressing the desire of the Cortes to give a solemn testimony of good faith towards their allies, and perseverance against the enemy, it confirms the decree of the extraordinary Cortes in 1811, by which the king was not to be acknowledged free, or obeyed, till he had taken in the bosom of the national congress the oath prescribed by the constitution; it directs what is to be done by the generals on the frontiers upon intelligence of the king's approach, prohibiting the

admission of any armed force with him, or of a single foreigner about his person; and it specifies the ceremonial to be observed on presenting the constitution to the king, and receiving his oath on its acceptance, The reading of this decree was accompanied with the applause of the auditors. A conversation ensued, respecting the publication of documents for the information of the people, when a member, named Senor Reyna, rose, and announcing that he had a motion to make, began with saying, "When our sovereign Ferdinand was born, he was born with a right to the absolute sovereignty of the Spanish nation." He was immediately called to order by anumber of voices; but insisting on his liberty as a representative of the people to utter his sentiments, he proceeded to assert, that it was indispensable that Ferdinand VII. as having by the abdication of Charles IV. acquired the right of being king and lord of his people, should be in the exercise of absolute sovereignty the moment he crossed the frontiers. The greatest indignation was excited against the member by this unqualified declaration of the highest monarchical principles, both among the deputies and the auditors in the gallery, and motions were tumultuously made for calling him to account. At length, Reyna being ordered to leave the hall, after some further discussion, the affair was voted to be referred to the consideration of a committee. It is to be added, that the regency communicated to the English ambassador an explicit account of all that had passed relative to the treaty, of the contents of Ferdinand's letter, and of their own conduct in consequence, than which nothing could be more honorable and decided; as, on the other hand, it was manifest, from the terms of the treaty, which were published, that Ferdinand had entirely lent himself to the designs of Napoleon.

Intelligence arrived at Madrid, from the Baron d'Eroles, that the French garrisons of Lerida, Mequinenza, and Monzon, capitulated on February 18th, remaining prisoners of war. It was afterwards announced that Gerona, Olot, and Puycerda were freed; that the blockade of Barcelona was become more strict, the enemy, after having severely suffered in a sally, remaining quiet; and that the French were in possession of only three or four fortresses in Catalonia, together with Peniscola and Murviedro.

On the 24th of March, a message was sent by the secretary of state to the Cortes, informing them of the receipt of a letter signed King Ferdinand VII. acquainting the regency with his intention of setting out on the 13th from Valency for Perpignan, and his anxiety to arrive speedily in Spain, coming by the way of Catalonia. The letter, upon motion, was brought to the Cortes and read. After acknowledging the letter from the regency, and expressing his satisfaction with

the nation's wishes for his return, which was no less his desire, in order to promote the felicity of his subjects, he mentioned his intention of proceeding as above stated, and concluded, "with regard to the re-establishment of the Cortes, of which the regency speak to me in their letter, as well as every thing that may have been done in my absence usefully to the kingdom, it will always merit my approbation, as conformable to my royal intentions." The letter was received with great applause; but during the reading, at the word subjects, in Spanish vasallos, a voice interrupted the secretary, saying, "we are not vassals!" A kind of apology was made for the use of this term, as proceeding from the king's ignorance of the constitution, by Senor Arispe, who made a motion for inviting the regency to adopt the necessary measures for the king's taking the oath to the constitution, which was approved.

At length, on March 24th, Ferdinand arrived at Gerona, whence he sent a letter to the regency, written with his own hand. It contained a general assurance of his wishes to do every thing that might conduce to the welfare of his subjects, and an expression of his happiness on finding himself on his own territory, amidst a nation and an army which had displayed so generous a fidelity towards him. A letter from General Copons, the commander-in-chief of Catalonia, mentioned that his majesty had been escorted to the left bank of the river Fluvia, by Marshal Suchet, with a detachment of French troops, and that having crossed the river with a suite of Spaniards only, he had been attended to Geroua by the general. The following circumstance was communicated to the Cortes by order of the regency. Marshal Suchet had wished to stipulate with General Copons, that the possession of the king's person should serve as a guarantee for the delivering up to the marshal of the French garrisons of the fortresses not yet in the hands of the Spaniards, as well as those of Lerida, Monzon, and Mequinenza; but as this proposal might have added 20,000 men to the French armies opposed to Lord Wellington, the general had eluded it, and obtained the person of Ferdinand without acceding to such a demand. The thanks of the Cortes were in consequence voted to him. In Madrid the greatest rejoicings were made on the intelligence of the king's return, in which all ranks and parties appeared to concur. His entrance into Saragossa, on April 6th, was attended with the same manifestations of general joy. He proceeded, on the 11th, for Valentia, accompanied by the infant Don Carlos; and nothing as yet appeared externally to disturb the feelings of national satisfaction in his extraordinary restoration. While he remained here, the decree of the Cortes, that obedience should not be paid to him,

communicated to him, and an humble request BOOK XII. to know, when he would conform to that decree : but he coldly answered that he had not yet made CAP. 11. up his mind upon the subject.

On the side of Holland, the operations of the British troops, under Sir Thomas Graham, were by no means of that magnitude and importance to the cause of the allies which it was expected they would have been the Dutch, indeed, after the first impulse of their detestation of Bonaparte, and their anxiety for the restoration of the house of Orange had passed away, seemed by no means disposed to exert themselves, either to co-operate in the invasion of France, or even in the expulsion of the French from those tracts of the Netherlands which formerly belonged to them; so that the British were nearly left to fight by themselves the battles of the Dutch. This apathy on the part of the inhabitants of Holland, who, from their commercial habits, had suffered more perhaps than any other people from the tyranny of Bona parte, was truly astonishing, and cannot easily or satisfactorily be accounted for.

On the night of the 8th of March, Sir Thomas Graham, having collected about 4,000 men, attempted to carry the fortress of Bergen-opzoom by storm. The troops were formed into four columns, of which two were destined to attack at different points of the fortifications, the third to make a false attack, and the fourth to attack by the entrance of the harbour, which is fordable at low water. The first of these, on the left, led by Major-general Cooke, incurred some delay on account of a difficulty in passing the ditch on the ice, but at length established itself on the rampart. In the mean time, the right column, under Major-general Skerret and Brigadier-general Gore, had forced their way into the body of the place; but the fall of the latter officer, and dangerous wounds of the former, caused the column to fall into disorder, and suffer a great loss in killed, wounded, and prisoners. The centre column being driven back, by the heavy fire of the place, with considerable loss, was re-formed, and marched round to join General Cooke. At daybreak the enemy turned the guns of the place upon the troops on the unprotected rampart, and much loss and confusion ensued. General Cooke at length, despairing of success, directed the retreat of the guards, which was conducted in the most orderly manner; and finding it impossible to withdraw his weak battalions, he saved the lives of the remaining men by a surrender. The governor of Bergen-op-zoom, General Bizanet, who was represented as a brave and humane man, agreed to a suspension of hostilities for an exchange of prisoners, and to liberal stipulations for the treatment of the wounded left in his hands. The number of killed on this

1814.

BOOK XII. prisoners at 1800, among whom a considerable number were wounded.

CHAP. II.

1814.

A considerable body of the allied troops having advanced in the early part of the year into the Catholic Netherlands, or Belguim, the French garrisons were gradually withdrawn from the more remote stations. They had made some movements for the purposes of contribution or depredation, and Burges and Ghent had for some time been in their hands; but at length, on intelligence of the events at Paris, the garrison of Bergen-op-zoom mounted the white cockade, and threw open its gates; and General Maison reIceived orders from the new French minister at war to cease all hostilities, and regard the allies as friends.

The Crown-prince of Sweden, having written to General Carnot, Governor of Antwerp, acquainting him with the deposition of Napoleon, and proposing to him to surrender his fortress, and join the allied troops, that distinguished person, who can only be paralleled by the republican officers who served under Cromwell, returned for answer, that he commanded at Antwerp in the name of the French government, which alone had a right to fix the duration of his office, and the orders of which he should obey when incontestably established on its new base.

On the 18th of April, be published a proclamation to his soldiers, informing them that the wishes of the nation being fully declared in favor of the restoration of the Bourbons, it became their duty to acknowledge them, and he concluded by an oath in his name, and those of the other commanders, to defend Antwerp to the last extremity in the name of Louis XVIII.

In Italy the contest between the Austrians and the French was maintained with considerable vigour on both sides. Count Bellegarde, the Austrian general, on passing the Adige, addressed a proclamation to the people of Italy, in which he mentioned the resolution of the King of Naples to join the arms of the allies. It was one of the most decisive symptoms of the opinion entertained of Napoleon's approaching decline, that this sovereign, of his own creation, his favorite fellowsoldier, connected with him by ties of kindred, should think it necessary, for his own security, to join the general confederacy against him. His disaffection to Napoleon materially affected the operations of the hostile armies in France. It prevented the viceroy (whose army was superior to that under Bellegarde) from sending any reinforcements to Bonaparte; and not only gave confidence to the allies, but enabled them to undertake operations which otherwise they never would have ventured upon.

In the beginning of the year, a treaty of alliance was concluded between the Emperor of Austria and the King of Naples, by the terms of

which the emperor engaged to keep at least 50,000 men in Italy, and the king 20,000, till the end of the war, to act in concert, and to be augmented in case of necessity; and the former guaranteed to the latter and his heirs the possession of the dominions actually held by him in Italy, and promised his mediation to induce the allies to accede to this guarantee. In consequence, the King of Naples arrived at Bologna on the 6th of January, whither Count Bellegarde went to pay his compliments to him.

On the 4th, the French quitted Verona, leaving a garrison in the old castle, and the Austrians on the same day entered the town: the Viceroy of Italy, Eugene Beauharnois, marched on the 7th, with the flower of his troops, on the side of Bozzolo on the Mincio, to oppose the passage of that river by the Austrians. A division and some battalions had already passed, when they were attacked by superior numbers. The whole of that day and the next passed in severe actions, in which the Austrians underwent considerable loss. Their main army did not come up till the 9th, when it was established to the number of between 40 and 50,000 men on both banks of the Mincio.

The French general, Grenier, having marched from Reggio by Guastalla, in order to effect a junction with the viceroy, the King of Naples, on the 5th of March, after reinforcing the Austrian advanced-guard, caused an attack to be made on the division of Severoli, in which he drove it back, with considerable loss, under the walls of Reggio; and, on the 7th, his movements threatening to cut off the enemy's retreat on Parma they evacuated Reggio, and retreated behind the Enza. Nothing of any consequence, however, occurred in this quarter, the viceroy continuing to maintain himself with great firmness. The events which had taken place at Paris were still unknown on the right bank of the Po, near the middle of April. The King of Naples, on the 12th of that month, forced the passage of the Taro, and pursued the enemy as far as Firenzuolo. On the next day he renewed his attack, and threw a bridge over the Sacca, in which operation he was vigorously opposed, but without preventing its execution. Murat then advanced with his army within a league of Placentia. The loss in these actions was very considerable on both sides, which, like those at Thoulouse, may be reckoned among the useless expences of the war. An armistice, which was concluded on the 16th, between the viceroy and the commanders of the allied forces, closed all further military operatious. By the terms of the armistice, the French troops were to cross the Alps, and the Italian troops to continue to occupy that portion of the kingdom of Italy which had not yet been possessed by the forces of the allies.

In the mean time, an expedition, under the command of Lord W. Bentinck, sailed from Palermo, and arrived at Leghorn on the 9th of March. This expedition was destined for Genoa. The troops having been disembarked, his lordship is sued a spirited proclamation to the Italians, in which he stated the purpose of Great Britain to be the effecting of their deliverance from tyranny, and called upon them to unite in the same cause. On his arrival at Spezzia, which be occupied, he was informed that there was only 2,000 troops in Genoa. He therefore determined to make a rapid advance upon that important city, in order to gain possession of it, whilst yet in a defenceless state; but on his arrival at Sestri, he found that the garrison had been reinforced to between 5 and 6,000 men. Notwithstanding, he determined to proceed, and the enemy was gradually dislodged from the strong intervening country. On the 16th of April, Lord Bentinck made dispositions for attacking the enemy, who had taken a very strong position in front of Genoa, extending from forts Richlieu and Tecla, by the village of St. Martino, to the sea, through a country thickly covered with country-houses, only communicating with each other by narrow lanes between high walls. The attack began at day-break on the 17th, and the Italian troops, with the Calabrese and Greeks, obtained possession of the two forts. The enemy's right was attacked by Major-general Montresor's division, supported by that of Lieutenant-general Macfarlane. The defence was long maintained through favor of the intersected nature of the ground; but at length the enemy was turned, and obliged to retire precipitately into the town. At noon the army took a position in front of the most

assailable part of the city, and on the same day BOOK XII. Sir Edward Pellew's squadron of men-of-war anchored in front of Nervi.

In the evening, a deputation of the inhabitants arrived with a request that his lordship would not bombard the town, and desiring a suspension of arms for a few days, as by the accounts from France it was probable that peace must soon follow. The reply was, that these were arguments to use with the French general, who ought to abandon a place he could not defend; and, on the next day, after several communications, a convention was signed, by which Genoa was to be evacuated by the French troops, and to be taken possession of by the combined English and Sicilian army, and three ships-of-war were to enter the harbour. The magazines and property of the French government were to be placed under the seals of the British government, and every thing belonging to the French marine to be delivered to the British navy. The losses on either side in making this acquisition were not considerable.

Among the many important events that marked the conclusion of this war, was that of the replacement of the head of the Roman Catholic church upon his seat of authority. The first act of the provisional government was an order that all obstacles to the return of the pope to his own territories should be instantly removed, and every honor be paid to him on his journey. Accordingly his holiness immediately proceeded for Italy, and having arrived at Viterbo, stopped at that place till the exiled cardinals could be assembled in order to attend him on his solemn entrance into Rome.

CHAP. II.

1814.

LOUIS XVIII. being summoned from his retreat at Hartwell, to assume the crown of his native kingdom, was invited, by the princeregent, first to display the royal dignity in the capital of England; and nothing could surpass the respectful attention, and as it may be termed, the affectionate sympathy, exhibited in the whole behaviour of his royal highness towards the illustrious stranger, now, from an exile become a potent monarch. His feelings appeared

in French.

A little before six in the evening the procession reached London. As the carriage with the cream-coloured horses approached, in which were Louis XVIII. and the regent, the populace unanimously huzzaed, while the ladies, from the windows, waved their handkerchiefs. The regent conducted him to the apartment prepared for him, where many of the nobility of France and Britain waited his arrival. The prince-regent then addressed his majesty in the following language: "Your majesty will permit me to offer you my heartiest congratulations upon that great event which has always been among the warmest of my wishes, and which must eminently contribute to the happiness, not only of your majesty's people, but to the repose and happiness of all other nations. I am sure that I may add, that my own sentiments and feelings are in unison with those of the whole British nation, and that the triumph and transport with which your majesty will be reeeived in your own capital, can scarcely exceed the joy and satisfaction with which your majesty's restoration to the throne of your ancestors has created in the capital of the British empire.”

To this speech his majesty replied, "Your royal highness will accept my most sincere and grateful thanks for your royal highness's congratulations, for the invariable kindness with which I have been treated by your royal highness, and by every member of your illustrious house. It is to your royal highness's councils, to this great country, and to the constancy of its people, that 1 shall always ascribe, under providence, the resto ration of our house to the throne of our ancestors, and that state of affairs which promises to heal the wounds, to calm the passions, and to restore the peace, the tranquillity, and the prosperity, of all nations."

The prince-regent again addressed Louis to this effect: "Your majesty indeed views my conduct with too partial an eye.. I can claim no merit, but the performance of a duty to which inclination and every consideration prompted me. And surely your majesty will allow, that the per. formance of it has been well rewarded by these events which call forth our present congratulations. May your majesty long reign in peace, happiness, and bonor."

This address excited the King of France again to speak. "Your royal highness must allow me to add, that I have feebly expressed all the grate

ful feelings of my heart,-feelings which I shall retain to the last moment of my life, for the unabated kindness and the generous protection with which your royal highness and your noble nation have honored me and all the members of my house, and all those loyal men attached to it, during our residence in this great and happy country, May its greatness and happiness be

eternal."

His majesty then, assisted by the Prince de Conde and the Duke de Bourbon, taking the ribband of the order of St. Esprit from his own shoul der, and the star from his breast, invested the. prince with it, declaring his happiness, that it should be upon his royal highness that he should first have the honor of conferring that ancient order, upon his restoration.

In relating some of the more remarkable marks of attention paid to the royal stranger, it would be highly improper to neglect the address of the city of London to Louis. "May it please your most christian majesty-We, the lord-mayor, aldermen, and commons of the city of London, in common-council assembled, beg leave to approachyour majesty, with the tender of our sincere congratulation upon the great and glorious events which, under the guidance of a gracious providence, have led to the deliverance of your people from a tyrant as oppressive as any that ever enslaved or afflicted mankind. It is matter of cordial gratification to the people of this country, that, during the wide and desolating ravages of war, a safe asylum has been found in these happy. realms for the royal family of France.

"The day is now arrived, when your majesty, is called upon to convince your people and the world that the sovereign of France has incalculable blessings to dispense to his gallant and faithful subjects, who are eager to behold their beloved monarch, as an ample and glorious amends for the calamities they have so long endured. That your majesty may long sway the recovered sceptre of your illustrious ancestors-that you may prove ablessing to your people, and that the two countries of Great Britain and France may be indissolubly allied by the relations of amity and concord, so as to insure and perpetuate to both, and to Europe at large, uninterrupted peace and repose, is our sincere and fervent wish."

To this congratulation his majesty returned the following answer: "I thank you with all my heart, for your obliging address and kind wishes. It is, I dare say it, as gratifying to my pride as affecting to my heart, to receive the felicitations of the city of London on so happy an event. Neither I nor my family will forget the asylum offered to us, the stand of England against tyranny, and the powerful aid which enabled my people to speak freely their sentiments of loyalty. For my own part, I will always be desirous tó pro

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